Founder Of BharatPe, Koladiya Sues Grover To Reclaim Company’s Shares

Bhavik Koladiya, the original founder of BharatPe, has filed a petition with the Delhi High Court to reclaim his shares from ousted managing director Ashneer Grover, who is also a co-founder of the fintech startup.

The case has been assigned to Delhi High Court Justice Prateek Jalan.

Koladiya and Shashvat Nakrani (who was then studying at IIT-Delhi) co-founded BharatPe in March 2018, each owning a 50 per cent stake. Koladiya was the company's face at the time, and he was seeking funding from investors.

Grover joined as the third co-founder three months later, in June 2018.

According to Registrar of Companies filings, when Grover joined BharatPe, he received 32 per cent equity, Nakrani held 25.5 per cent, and Koladiya retained the largest stake at 42.5 per cent.

However, six months later, in December 2018, just before Sequoia came on board as an investor, Koladiya's name was removed from the founders' list, "owing to large institutional investors' discomfort with having a person with a jail term in the US."

Koladiya, who immigrated to the United States in 2007, ran an unlicensed digital payment system at his grocery store, infringing on US identity theft and mail fraud laws.

Koladiya was arrested but released after paying a USD 100 fine and was deported back to India in 2015.

And since Sequoia came on board, Grover became the face of the company, while Koladiya continued as a 'consultant'.

The founders did, however, agree to limit Koladiya's public involvement. He agreed to sell his stake to Grover, Nakrani, Nakrani's father (also his former schoolteacher), and some angel investors.

Koladiya declined to comment, referring all inquiries to his lawyers, Sim & San. BharatPe's spokesperson also declined to comment.